Keynote and invited speakers

Keynote speakers

David Cavallo

Chief Learning Architect for One Laptop per Child

David Cavallo is Chief Learning Architect for OLPC (One Laptop per Child). His work
focuses on human learning, designing technology to facilitate learning, and large-scale
reform of educational systems. Through his work on "models of growth", he has focused on
comprehensive approaches to large-scale change, including content development,
educational methodology, teacher development and organizational change. Prior to working
with OLPC, He was co-director of the Future of Learning Research Group at MIT. Cavallo
has also led the design and implementation of medical informatics as part of a reform of
health care delivery and management at the Harvard University Health Services. David
holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Science degree from the MIT Media Laboratory and a
Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science from Rutgers University. He has published
widely on Learning and Education for the 21st century. Cavallo has served as an advisor
to national efforts of educational change catalyzed by technology.

The New Maths: Multiplying by 1-to-1 to Reduce a Division

Social inequalities inside and between countries exist alongside rapidly increasing
access to digital technologies. Reducing the digital divide to enable full social
inclusion is therefore not just a matter of providing access to computers. Instead,
reducing the social gap requires access to technology that supports the development of
the kinds of agency and collective efficacy that can give users power over their
lives.

One Laptop per Child (OLPC)
aims to create learning environments for children that facilitate human and social
development. By providing ubiquitous, 1-to-1 access to mobile, connected laptops, the
goal is completely to transform the educational environment, both in schools and in the
community.

In this keynote, David Cavallo analysed the implicit assumptions we make about
learning and the organisation and processes of learning environments. Focusing on the
underlying principles of OLPC, and providing examples of experiences to date, David
engaged delegates in a discussion about how to evolve new, more progressive, more
equitable ways of organising education and of empowering learners.

Itiel Dror

Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychology at the University of
Southampton

Itiel Dror is a
Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychology at the University of Southampton (UK). He
holds a doctorate in cognitive neuroscience from Harvard
University and specializes in the fields of learning, training & skill
acquisition, technology & cognition, and human
performance, expertise & decision making. He has received numerous awards for his
research and teaching innovations, and is a recognized international leader in learning
technologies. Dr Dror has conducted research and consultancy for numerous organisations,
including the UK Identity and Passport Service, US Air Force, the Japanese Advanced
Science Project, the European Office of Aerospace Research & Development, and for a
variety of police forces in the UK and in other countries. He has also worked with a host
of commercial companies, including IBM, Orange, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and B&Q.
Itiel's interest and experience is in taking scientific knowledge and theoretical
academic models about the human brain and mind, and translating them into practical ways
to improve and affect human performance and decision making in the workplace. Much of his
applied work relates to learning and skill acquisition, decision making, and how
technology can aid in changing behaviours and cognition. Dr Dror is an associate editor
of Pragmatics and
Cognition, and is editing a five year series on Cognition and Technology. A special issue on
Learning Technologies is currently in press.

Learning and technology: what is it all about?

Learning is not only about acquiring information and knowledge, but also (and mainly)
about whether and how these are remembered and used. To understand learning and how
technology can affect it, is less about what is taught and what technology is used, and
much more about what learners learn: if you want people to learn using learning
technology, you need first to understand how they learn.

In this keynote talk Itiel Dror illustrated that when you know what learning is
all about, then seemingly small differences in the way learning materials are designed
and delivered can make a huge difference to their effectiveness. The full potential of
technology enhanced learning depends crucially on those involved having an understanding
of what learning is all about, and the know-how to apply it in practice.

Hans Rosling

Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm,
Sweden

Hans Rosling is professor of International Health at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm,
Sweden. When working as doctor in Mozambique he discovered a formerly unrecognized
paralytic disease that his research team named konzo.

His research concerns links between economy and health in Africa, Asia and Latin
America. He has been adviser to WHO and UNICEF and he co-founded Médecines sans
Frontiers in Sweden. He started courses and published a textbook on Global Health.

With his son and daughter-in-law he founded the Gapminder Foundation to promote a fact
based world view by developing Trendalyzer, software that converts international
statistics into moving, interactive and enjoyable graphics - www.gapminder.org. In 2007 Google acquired Trendalyzer.

A fact-based world view

In this keynote speech on world development (which has been labeled "humorous, yet
deadly serious") Hans Rosling analysed the economic, social and environmental changes
that are taking place in the world. Trendalyzer's animations clearly display how
countries improve or deteriorate from the point of view of health, environment and
economics. Many in the audience may have found that their world view is some decades too old.
Rosling's 5 main points were:

there are no longer two types of countries in the world, with the old division in
industrialized and developing countries replaced by a world with a continuum of
socio-economic development;

most Asian countries are modernizing twice as fast as Europe did;

a new dichotomy may form between the 5 billion people moving towards healthy lives
with cell phones, washing machines and human rights, and more than 1 billion people stuck
in the vicious circle of poverty and insecurity;

so far all progress towards health and wealth has been achieved at the price of CO2
emissions and an imminent climate crisis;

there are reasons for optimism regarding the future of the world because we presently
manage the world so poorly (i.e. there are enormous opportunities to improve the life of
all humans and to create a secure a sustainable world).

John Fisher

Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Leeds, and Professor of Mechanical
Engineering and Director of the Institute for Medical and Biological
Engineering

Professor Fisher welcomed delegates to the conference on behalf of the
University of Leeds. John Fisher is Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of
Leeds, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Institute for Medical and
Biological Engineering. He is also a member of EPSRC's Technical Opportunities Panel and
Non-Executive Director of Tissue Regenix and BITECIC Ltd. In his role as the University
of Leeds' first Deputy Vice-Chancellor he focuses in particular on internal affairs
including strategy, academic development and planning and faculty management. He also
chairs the Steering Groups for Information Technology, Sustainable Development and the
Capital Programme. Previously as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Professor Fisher led
the University's Research Assessment Exercise submission. Professor Fisher has over 25
years experience in Medical Engineering research, and has published over 350 journal
papers in this field. In the last 10 years his research has focused on wear and wear
debris of artificial joints. Current research also focuses on cartilage tissue
substitution, spine biomechanics and tissue engineering. His work is supported by major
collaborative programme funding from EPSRC, NIH, NIHR, Regional Development Agency and
Industry with key international collaborations in USA, Europe, China and
Japan.

Invited speakers

George Auckland - Head of Innovation, BBC Vision

Lifelong
Learning, the changing role of the BBC.

In this illustrated talk George started with an historical overview on the BBC's
involvement with Education in the UK, developed the concept of 'Beyond the Broadcast' and
showed ways in which digital technology can help us engage more fruitfully with our
audiences. BBC Education started broadcasting in April 1924, using analogue radio of
course. However it was interesting to see how many of the early concepts are alive and
kicking today. Some people would even call them Web 2.0.

Building the Arc: the Social Network and Emotional-Intellectual Dynamic Methodology of the SMARTlab Practice-Based PhD Programme

A series of SMARTlab projects have focussed on 'bridging the digital divide' over the years, and their not for profit activism has linked closely with their research and knowledge exchange platforms, to provide a number of rich ‘digital dividends’ too. With the 30th practice-based PhD soon to be submitted, and an MIT book about the method soon to be published, this invited paper shared the history of the SMARTlab PhD Programme and its aims for the future. The talk discussed the learning models and the social networks and community building models imported from the NGO and Creative Industries sectors in which the team also work, to inform a scholarly programme designed to support individual scholars and simultaneously to present the academy with a range of creative challenges from within.

From the Top 100 Tools for
Learning list Jane highlighted 25 key, free tools to enable you to explore and
experience the wide variety of learning tools now available. The tools were a mix of
personal productivity tools for managing your own personal learning as well as authoring
tools for creating all kinds of learning experiences. Many of them so-called Web 2.0
tools that promote a social, collaborative, sharing approach to learning.

Denise Kirkpatrick - Pro Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching,
The Open University

In this
session Denise reflected on the Open University's experience in adopting the open
source learning management system, from initial decision-making through the extensive
development work involved, to a consideration of the issues associated with participating
in an open source community. She identified the business and cultural challenges we
face through the journey, ways that we responded, and described the activities that are
intended to support and encourage uptake and use of the VLE and greater levels of staff
and student engagement in e-learning.

When the Teaching and Learning Research Programme launched its Technology Enhanced
Learning call, it chose four major themes: personalisation, productivity, flexibility and
inclusion. Are these the grand challenges for TEL? Or are they merely signposts for
research? If the latter, how can we turn them into real challenges that can stimulate
cumulative research and, of course, real change in schools, colleges, workplaces and in
the home? Richard outlined some of the TEL projects currently underway, and some ways
in which the TEL programme is attempting to rise to these challenges - as well as talked
about some of his own research too.

E-learning in the workplace has been dominated for too long by top-down management
initiatives to deliver formal content to large audiences as cheaply as possible. There
are signs at long last that e-learning is beginning to shake off its CBT (computer-based
training) heritage and re-invent itself as a much more flexible, responsive and
learner-centered medium, one in which all learning and development professionals can play
a valuable role, and which encourages learners to be active contributors. In
this session, Clive explored the potential for the democratisation of content
creation in the workplace, ever mindful of the reactionary forces which can hinder its
progress.

George Siemens - Associate Director, Research and Development,
Learning Technologies Centre, University of Manitoba

Finding new
centres: Institution and Individual, Formal and Informal

For almost a century, bold predictions have been issued declaring the transformative
impact of technology on the educational enterprise. For learners and educators alike,
reality has yet to provide even a pale reflection of the promises offered by hype.
Recently, learning networks have become important topics of discussion, with subtle
indications of serving as tools of leverage for systemic changes within education. This
session argued for learning networks as change agents transforming both information
access and learner interactions. As information and interaction change, new centres of
balance are required between institutional and individual as well as formal and informal
learning.